Box Score
GREENSBORO, December 5, 2007 -- North Carolina A&T men’s basketball coach Jerry Eaves made major changes to his starting lineup before facing Southern Virginia Wednesday night at Corbett Sports Center.

The changes resulted in a lot of points and breakout games for several Aggies in a 124-90 Aggies win. Austin Ewing, Ed Jones and Robert Johnson all had career games. Ewing, who didn’t start for the first time in 14 games dating back to last season, finished with a career-high 20 points, made six 3-pointers and dished out six assists.

Jones also had his best game as an Aggie after missing his first start of the season. He finished with 12 points, three steals, two blocks and four rebounds, while Johnson finished with a career-high 11 points and five boards.

Aggies guard Steven Rush, who made first-team All-MEAC despite being a reserve last season, led all scorers with 25 points in his first start in 33 games. He was 7-for-14 from 3-point range. Rush was joined by 2007-2008 first-time starters Tavarus Alston and Trahern Chaplin. Jason Wills and James Porter remained in the starting lineup.

The Aggies shot 57.7 percent for the game on a whopping 48 field goals.

“I wanted to change things up and see if we could find another group that would be willing to come out with more intensity,’’ said Eaves, who thought his team lacked intensity at Norfolk State on Saturday. “We needed that intensity with the way (Southern Virginia) can shoot the ball.”

N.C. A&T started well. The Aggies took a 7-0 lead before the Knights got warm from 3-point range. The Knights hit 7 of 8 3-pointers over the next 4 ½ minutes to give the Knights a 23-11 lead. Instead of panicking, the Aggies turned to Rush and Ewing to show off their 3-point shooting touch.

Rush and Ewing combined to hit seven 3-pointers during a 31-3 Aggies run that helped them recapture the lead at 42-26 with 6:20 remaining in the first half. “Steven Rush played a terrific game,’’ said Eaves. “He took one bad shot the whole night. He told me he was in a shooting slump. He was not in a shooting slump, he wasn’t taking good shots.”

Rush had 22 first-half points to help the Aggies go into the locker room with a 60-44 halftime lead. It was the Aggies best first half on historic record.

But the Knights, who hit 19 3-pointers on 45 attempts Wednesday, were not ready to let the Aggies run away with the game. J.J. Holt’s three with 17:19 remaining in the game cut the Aggies lead to nine. After a Wills layup, Dallas Rivera knocked down another Knight three to cut the lead to eight, 66-58, with 15:59 remaining.

But Rush and Ewing hit back-to-back threes to end the Knights run and the rout was on from there.

“It’s hard to pressure when you’re on the floor with a team like that – a team with four guards and a shooting center,’’ said Eaves, who saw the Knights turn the ball over 29 times. “They are truly at an advantage. This was a great contest to prepare us because they do an outstanding job of dribble penetration and kicking out to the wings. Their type of offense is very hard to defend. Sports are truly about matchups and that was a good matchup for us.”

Tanner Johnson led the Knights with 24 points. Rivera added 21 points and J.J. Holt had nine assists. The Aggies will take 12 days off for exams before heading on the road to face Missouri in Columbia, Mo., at 8 p.m., on Dec. 17.